The zoo just had its Dolphin Adventure expanded. They always had a dolphin show there with a dolphin pool, but now they have built this acrylic domed room within the pool so you walk into it and the dolphins swim around you kind of like you are in the aquarium. So that's a pretty neat exhibit because then you can see the dolphins from above and below and sideways and see the power they have in their tails. It's a 30 foot diameter acrylic domed underwater room. They do have a virtual reality safari which is fully enclosed. You get inside and sit down and then you watch a video screen and you are sitting in these chairs and you feel like you are on a safari. They have a train ride that goes around the perimeter of the property that kind of shows people the behind the scenes action. They have a small roller coaster that the younger kids can ride with their parents. They have a carousel with endangered species on it instead of having ponies. It also enables participants or visitors to do a lot of things that other zoos don't necessarily do, where you are closer to the animals. You can hand-feed the giraffe. You can participate in the elephant washings. They have like the floor arena setting where you sit and the trainers bring the elephants out with hoses and you can pet the elephants and things like that which I don't think a lot of zoos do anymore. So that's a really unique aspect; the fact that you can get up close and personal. In the Dolphin Adventure you can now get in the water with the dolphin for an additional fee. It's not to swim with the dolphin, it's to learn about them and help in their preservation. You get into the water, and you can touch them. You learn their behavioral training and then the trainers will show you some of the gestures and signals and then you give them to the dolphins and they either jump up out of the water or kiss you or clap with their little fins. That's very neat and unique. I think it's the only one in the mid-west because generally those are more in coastal cities. The zoo is just north of town.
